Not again.......! Feral Hog Control in East Texas

For some us us, this hog hunting thing sort of gets to be an addiction. I leave the house before daylight every morning to go check traps, feeders...etc... For an old retired guy it's just something to keep life interesting and a daily activity to keep me from sitting in front of the tv watching vintage western movies all day. As another positive , I also keep quite a few people happy with the free meat I pass out to them.
 
I probably started trapping and hunting hogs on a pretty regular basis about 8 yrs. ago, but I started keeping count on one particular piece of property I hunt about 6 1/2 yrs. ago. I never kept any tally on any of the other properties I deal with, but I would guess I've taken somewhere between 200-300 total off of those.
The property I keep count on is sort of a special parcel to me. It is 1,000 acres of pretty dense woods with a 40 acre lake in the middle of it. I am basically the only person that hunts it, although I do take some friends out to hunt or fish sometimes.
I sometimes wish I had another old guy that would have enough interest in the hobby to help with some of the work. It seems like most folks would like to go shoot a hog, but not deal with the work on a daily basis. I put out about 1,000 lbs. of corn a month to feed the hogs, deer and whatever critters are hungry out there.
 
I'm in East Texas too, but believe I'm further North of you. We have had the creek out of it's bounds so many times that it probably moved them to higher ground. The woods are so think you can not walk through them. Went with a neighbor this morning that is directly south of me, 95 ac. We saw signs of hogs on his place, around the road where the creeks cross. Have not seen any on my place for some time, thankful for that. I do have a trap set but not baited for when they show up. I have a 458 SOCOM specially for them :D . May go with my neighbor when he gets his camera's setup to know when their coming through.

Keep after them, some one has too.
 
Blue....just keep some corn out on a regular basis and they will be back. I think the acorns are about gone from all the rain so the hogs are starting to move somewhat again. I'm afraid with all the rain we have had, that we will have a bumper crop of acorns again this year! I'm about half way between Dallas and Shreveport.
 
Well Flint and all of the others that have contributed to this thread - you have made it simply amazing! I have one hog hunt under my belt. A month ago I had the opportunity to go to Macon Georgia area to hunt for a night. I was able to get a 225# boar. My brother was along also & he got a 90#. After that I stumbled onto this thread & now I am totally hooked.
I started ready this a week ago & finally got all of the way through it. So much freely given info!
One thing I have noticed, when you hunt at night, you talk about using a red light on your gun. The place we went to preferred green lights. I had plenty of oppurtunity to shoot pigs - from 6:30 when we got in our stands until 10:30 when I shot mine, I probably had 3 dozen pigs pass in front of me. With the green light, I could fan the area, see what was out there & then if I saw something interesting, I could look through my scope & see them as plan as day. It seems you prefer red lights - how do they function?
Oh, I about forgot to say, I was using a Swiss K31 & dropped mine like a brick.
Again, thanks for all of the amazing info you have shared.
 
I did some testing years ago on live animals, including hogs. I ran red, white, and green lights out of the same sort of flashlight and then waited to see how the hogs responded. Due to the structure of their eyes, hogs don't see red as a color. That doesn't mean it is invisible to them only that they don't see it as red. Ideally red light should be the best. However, red light is a bit harder to use as it makes seeing harder for us as well. Green is supposed to make things show up better than red. Hogs definitely see the green portion of the spectrum. I have trouble seeing objects in green light (no ND3 for me). White, well we all know about white.

Hogs reacted less to the red light than any other color. They tended to only react to it when they were looking in my direction. None reacted when I let them up from behind. I had to shine the light on them for a while before the red started to bother hogs that saw it.

Green did produce one reaction when hogs were lit up from behind and also they were bothered when they were looking toward me. It wasn't always immediate, but it spooked them fairly quickly.

White caused negative reactions regardless of the direction hogs were facing and did so nearly every time.

With that said, lowering the light down on to the hogs produced much less reaction than just lighting them up with a blast of light.

-----

Between red and green, I would suggest going with the color that works best for YOUR vision. Use the light wisely and gradually illuminate the hogs and you will probably do well. The one caveat here is that hogs that have previously been hunted with a particular color of light will be more likely to react negatively to it. Heck, hogs hunted with IR light learn to associate the glow of the light itself with bad karma and will take off if they notice it unexpectedly. So if you have been hunting a group of hogs with green light, switching to red might give you an advantage, for a while.
 
Thanks for the comments. Your comment about lower the light down on them slowly reminded me that is exactly what our guide told us to do. He said never point the light right where you want to see but point your light at the sky, turn it on then bring it down.
I would see that the bigger the hog, the more they would watch my light. You could tell that they saw it. A couple got nervous the rest would just glance at it and go back to eating.
 
Hi Redrover....and welcome to the THR forum.

DNS has pretty much summed it up in his post above this.

I use both colors depending upon circumstance but I use Red more often than not. The reason for that...is that I have experienced less reaction to it than when using green AND it seems to preserve 'detail' better.

Most folks use green because it lets them see farther and in some cases better. To me....it 'washes' out the target particularly if the object is in tall grass, crops or brush. Under a feeder on bare ground...either color will work fine.

Of more importance....and something I strongly believe... is that light intensity and the angle it is presented are more important than selecting Red or Green.
 
While I lay no claim to be a coon hunter (relevance will reveal itself in just a second) I go with friends quite often. They all use bright white LED and Xenon headlamps. We semi-frequently walk up on hogs while enroute to a treed dog. Those lights do nothing to spook those hogs. We can hit them with those lights for a good 10-15 seconds before they ever move. And we are usually within 50 yards or so when we see them due to thickness of the undergrowth. As I'm recovering from surgery, haven't had the opportunity to go. But when I'm recovered, I'll go and try to get pics to back up my claim.

Again Flint, this makes me wonder about the differences between your hogs and ours.
 
^^^^^^^^ Sorry to hear that John.

Yes, definitely put that rifle on paper, something isn't right. You should have hit pig at that distance.

They'll be back. You will get them.
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I checked the rifle and realized I'd zeroed it for my 350gr Berry's plated rounds, instead of the 405gr Remington loads I was using. Turns out I was about 3 inches low at the 22 yard distance I took my shot from. The shot was slightly rushed and he was walking mostly away from me, so I probably buzzed his armpit. I adjusted elevation up 12MOA, and I'm now dead on at that distance.

I suspect this is the reason i missed the earlier shot that hit the pine branch as well, since it was taken at an even greater distance.

Funny enough, the hog that I took the shot at came back after a couple of days, but not his friend. I caught him on my cameras a few times in the days that followed. It's been rainy on and off since up until a couple days ago, so they seem to have gone elsewhere for the time being. Now that it's started to dry out, I suspect they'll be coming back.
 
While I lay no claim to be a coon hunter (relevance will reveal itself in just a second) I go with friends quite often. They all use bright white LED and Xenon headlamps. We semi-frequently walk up on hogs while enroute to a treed dog. Those lights do nothing to spook those hogs. We can hit them with those lights for a good 10-15 seconds before they ever move. And we are usually within 50 yards or so when we see them due to thickness of the undergrowth. As I'm recovering from surgery, haven't had the opportunity to go. But when I'm recovered, I'll go and try to get pics to back up my claim.

Again Flint, this makes me wonder about the differences between your hogs and ours.
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Video would work better than pics. Pics fail to convey duration very well.

The difference in the hogs may be their pressure, just like with other animals. Your hogs don't associate light with being killed. Shoot a couple and that will change.
 
Again Flint, this makes me wonder about the differences between your hogs and ours.
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The hogs you describe (their reactions... or lack of), sound like the hogs we had here 25 yrs. ago.

Back then it was not unusual for me to go check feeders or put out corn after dark and walk right up on a group.

Provided they didn't smell me...I could light them up with a flashlight and it actually had the effect of 'freezing' them for a moment.

But those days are LONG gone and virtually ALL the hogs around here are wary.

As DNS suggests.... it might be a matter of 'pressure' (lack of) where you hunt. I can't think that Oklahoma hogs are 25 years behind the times. ;)

Or possibly...you're just one stealthy Son of a Gun. Dunno.....:confused: :)

In any case, good luck with them and thanks for doing all you can to reduce their numbers.
 
Well as it turns out, we have a bill right now that will allow us to hunt hogs, on public land, at night, with spotlights. I believe it's already passed the house. If the Gov signs it into law, there's going to be a whole lot of dead pigs in these parts. They won't be safe anytime.
 
I am on a short vacation with family. We are in the very west end of New York. Driving the countryside I noticed areas that looked like it would be good area for hogs if they were in the area. When I got back to our motel, I of course had to google it. Sure enough, the pigs have made it here.
What I found interesting was how NY has decided to handle the critters. They do not allow the public to help irradicate pigs in any way. Their process is to trap & kill them themselves. They feel the pigs will go into traps better if they are never shot at.
I couldn't find any reports of how successful they feel they are but that sure seems like a very slow & labor intensive way of controlling pigs especially knowing how fast they reproduce.
 
Redrover wrote:

What I found interesting was how NY has decided to handle the critters. They do not allow the public to help irradicate pigs in any way. Their process is to trap & kill them themselves. They feel the pigs will go into traps better if they are never shot at.
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I believe there is some merit to this model since un-pressured, uneducated pigs would certainly be easier to trap. But I think minimizing all contact with them (not just shooting) would be necessary.

I think an underlying motive is also at play...in that they (Fish & Game) don't want folks to 'start' hunting hogs... in hopes that it will NOT gain popularity and thus garner support for having hogs around.


I couldn't find any reports of how successful they feel they are but that sure seems like a very slow & labor intensive way of controlling pigs especially knowing how fast they reproduce.
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So much depends on the circumstance there. I suspect there is excellent habitat to support a Feral Population of hogs and Fish and Game folks know it.

No doubt, they are aware that if they don't stop the 'invasion' NOW and do so decidedly, it will quickly get out of hand.

IF feral hog numbers are currently small AND they are found only in certain areas (concentrated) then trapping them would seem a viable solution.

The Fish and Game folks rightly understand that they only have one 'shot at it' (pun intended) before the pigs begin to multiply and spread out. At that point, no Game/State commission anywhere has the funding or manpower to contain them.

IF it is the intent of F&G to eradicate the existing population by themselves...then they'd better get on it quick. If they intend to allow the citizenry to help achieve that goal, then a 'bounty' system needs to be in place.

What you want to avoid (and this is the challenge) is ever letting hogs become established and have hunters enjoy the 'new' animal to pursue. Once there is 'support' for the hogs....its over. You will have hogs (to some degree) forever. it is important to remember, hogs most likely did not 'migrate' to NY, someone brought them in.

I know that sounds attractive to some folks, but feral hogs are a plague anywhere they exist in great numbers.
 
Stony, your count is up to 527. How long have you been keeping score?
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Regardless the time frame, 527 hogs is a large number and represents a dedicated and successful effort on his part.

That number by itself is quite impressive...but the REAL benefit is often overlooked, The population potential (offspring) of the hogs that were killed would number MANY thousands in just a couple of years.

Hogs/Pigs are simply the most prolific (large Mammal) breeders in the U.S. and likely globally as well.

Stony's efforts have prevented thousands upon thousands of 'new' pigs from wreaking havoc on the ecosystem.

As an aside, I see too many folks put importance on the 'size' of a hog...or its gender (Large Boars especially coveted).

From a trophy aspect....I see the reasoning. But in terms of population 'control'....ANY hog killed counts the same. From the largest Boar to the smallest piglet, all will contribute to the population in time.

My hat is off to men like Stony who work very hard to put a dent in them.

Good Job!
 
Thanks for the kind words guys...the count is now up to 530. I don't know where I will end up with this project, but we will see how long I can keep it up. I got a fairly large sow the other day and carved off the legs and backstrap. Just out of curiosity before I left the area to the pork loving critters, I slit the belly to see if it was pregnant. There were 8 babies that were not too far from being born...about 10 inches long and well formed.
I guess it's a failing on my part, but I still can't get myself to kill the little striped ones that get caught in traps. I don't mind taking care of any of them over 30-40 lbs or so, but the little guys I still have to turn loose. I doubt they survive on their own...but I guess it's just a soft spot in me somewhere.
 
Way to go, Stony. Keep after 'em. I'd say those last two aren't exactly 'small', in my book. The one on the right looks like it could be around 80-100 Lbs. As Flintknapper noted, the natural tendency is to shoot the larger hogs, so the average around here is perhaps 125 Lbs. However, the ones we catch in traps are generally the smaller, less educated, hogs.
 
Stony, Thanks for keeping after them. Wish there was more like you around, we may have a chance to keep them under control. Keep up the good work.

I scouted with my neighbor on his 95ac earlier this week. Saw some tracks of one that was pretty large. He has started his deer feeder back up, so were going to setup a blind to cover it. Since it's on his road we will be fairly far back (200 yrds) since the timber is so thick you can't see 5' in most areas.
 
Blue...if I were you, I would consider a light on his feeder. I get the solar porch lights from Harbor Freight that run about 25 bucks. If you attach one up near the top of a feeder...maybe even to the top cover, the light will cover a pretty fair area and you will have a motion detector built right in to let you know when something is near the feeder. I have shot a lot of hogs using this method from 100 yds, and I think it would work from a lot longer distance as well. The hogs and deer don't seem to mind the light and get accustomed to it real quick. Just a thought since daytime hogs are pretty hard to find most of the time. I can sure relate to the thick brush you have....i deal with it all the time here. Good luck and go get em' !
 
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